Residents in the street worst affected by September's earthquake may spend another two Christmases waiting for their homes to be rebuilt.

The head of AMI Insurance, the largest New Zealand-owned insurer operating here, says the firm is on sound footing, three months after the Canterbury earthquake.

Canterbury's massive earthquake and aftershocks are likely to rank as the fifth most costly quake ever for insurers.

Police hope to cap the vent shaft at Pike River mine tomorrow after weather conditions at the site prevented the operation from going ahead today.

New Zealand civil defence officials are to have access to American experts 24 hours a day.

The majority of miners remaining at Pike River Coal mine look set to lose their jobs, as officials today told workers they were going to proceed with redundancies three weeks after a series of explosions killed 29 workers inside the mine.

More than 80 per cent of Christchurch households have filed insurance claims for the Canterbury quake.

Communication with Canterbury quake victims could have been better, the Earthquake Commission said today.

When the earthquake-rattled people of Christchurch were in need, Suresh Patel stepped up.